The Federal Government has said it will assist Sokoto with expertise and other logistics to ensure rapid development of ICT in the state.
Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, stated this when he visited Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal at the weekend.
“We will deploy logistics and personnel to assist the state government develop its ICT sector. Already, appreciable level of progress has been achieved but we hope to expand into critical areas like agriculture, education and healthcare delivery. We have also discussed issue of digitisation and our overall objective is to improve the socio-economic life of the people of the state using ICT,” a statement issued Sunday by Tambuwal’s spokesman, Malam Imam Imam, quoted the minister as saying.
According to Shittu, the FG is seeking to tap into vast talents available in Sokoto and other parts of the country to create an ICT hub, adding that the aim is to bring the benefit of ICT revolution to the Caliphate state.
He said Sokoto has a long history of scholarship, and is one of the few states to have an improving quality of leadership in the country.
“Governor Tambuwal has brought in a new vista into governance and I am happy to say we can work with him to bring about positive impact to the lives of the people using ICT,” Shittu added.
In his remarks, Tambuwal said Sokoto will leverage on the modest achievements recorded in the ICT sector in the last one year, and welcomed the opportunity to partner the Federal Government for the benefit of the state.
He said his administration has “extensively applied ICT in various spheres of governance,” and will continue to do so because the new method enhances good governance and helps in tackling corruption at all levels.
He said such determination recently led the state to win an award as the best state in the application of ICT in governance organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).